Lest We Forget - Anzac Day

April 25th is a much celebrated day all across Australia.  This day, Anzac Day, is the anniversary of Australia's first involvement in war and has become a patriotic day to celebrate and remember Australian troops, both past and present.

Troops march in an Anzac Day parade in Townsville, QLD.

On April 25, 1915, Australia entered WWI as a member of the British Empire.  Enthusiastic troops were sent to Gallipoli, Turkey with the mission of breaking a stalemate, however, the mission became a stalemate itself and the troops were pulled out in December of that same year.  And thus ended Australia's first involvement in war with the outside world.

Mounted troops pose for pictures during an afternoon service.

Regarded as a complete military failure, the troops' efforts in Gallipoli still marked a turning point in Australian history.  Noted as an instance of national strength, Australians found great pride in knowing that their people had willingly stepped up to assist their mother empire and thought it gave them an identity as a more mature and significant nation.  Not long after the troops landed in Gallipoli, people began idealising the Australian soldier and their efforts in the war.  So even though they didn't win any battles, the country did win a new sense of national identity and pride.

School children march past a military memorial.

Today Anzac Day is a national holiday celebrated by dawn services and parades all over the country, resembling something of a combination of Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the U.S.

From Coast to Coast Like Buttered Toast Part 3: The End of the Road

Perth, the final stop.  We had successfully gotten from the East to West coast of Australia.  We both stayed with friends at Murdoch University, located just outside of the city.  My first impression was that I rather liked the city of Perth, it is relatively small and surrounded by suburbs, kind of like my home town of Pittsburgh but a bit smaller and next to the ocean.  We spent little time in the city, only navigating it by bus to get around as our main purpose in going to Perth was to dive.  And dive we did.  This was the first time I have gone on an un-guided dive, since my dive partner was a dive master we decided to go alone.  We dove off of a boat that took us and a few other groups to Rottnest Island.  The diving was not so great as the visibility was very poor, not even a meter at the first site and only one or two meters at the second.  But it was a good workout as the surge was constantly pulling us back and pressing us forward.  Despite the conditions, we still had fun and the boat had some great food. 

On my final day in Perth I went cliff jumping with some old friends I had met during our program's orientation in Cains and some new friends I met while staying in Perth.  The sky was clear and blue, the water cool and crisp, and jumping from the cliffs and exploring the caves was a great way to end my trip.  Once we tired of the adrenaline rush, I packed my bags and headed to the airport to fly back to Townsville and all my friends...and my school work...  :D

From Coast to Coast Like Buttered Toast Part 2: The Big Red Rock

Ayers Rock was awesome.  The whole experience was a bit different than I had expected.  I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but showers and crowded campgrounds weren't it.  I was quite surprised (pleasantly?...maybe) to find that the camps we stayed at had showers and heaps of fresh water.  I was also quite surprised (not so pleasantly) to find that our group was made up of quite a few people who were not accustomed to roughing it, not that I would really call what we were doing "roughing it."  Despite that, we had a decent group, one American in addition to us, heaps of Germans, none of whom had actually come together, a trio from Denmark, an Italian, an Englishman, our Aussie tourguide and a Korean couple who came to be affectionately known as the honeymooners as they were on one of the last legs of their year-long honeymoon that had covered pretty much every country one can think of.  After being in the cool, crisp air of Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the hot, dry air of Uluru was intense.  But so were the colours of the red earth, yellow grass, green shrubs and blue sky. 

Uluru

Uluru

We walked around Uluru (which according to the natives you really shouldn't climb because of its spiritual meaning), through Kata Tjuta (where we temporarily lost the honeymooners), and through King's Canyon over the three days we were there.  We climbed up and down, learned about the geology and native history of the places, swam in a watering hole and watched the sun rise and set.  We saw camels and emus and heaps of other critters before setting off on a long drive on our final day to the small town of Alice Springs.  We spent just one night in Alice Springs, long enough to have dinner with our group and hear stories of Australia and the Outback from our tourguide, before heading to Perth, the final stop in my epic.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kings Canyon

From Coast to Coast Like Buttered Toast Part 1: Driving On the Left Side of the Road

I've wanted to come to Australia since I can remember and now that we had been given a week off for Fall break, I was ready to explore the country.  So I gathered my bags and left Townsville with a few friends for a crazy adventure.  We left for Sydney, only getting the evening to take in the city, walking down Sydney Harbour and seeing the Opera House and enjoying the civilisation that Townsville lacks, before picking up our rental car in the morning and heading to the Blue Mountains.

Our plan was for me to drive, on the opposite side of the road, in the other side of the car, with gears and blinkers on reverse sides, from the heart of Sydney up to the tiny town of Katoomba, about an hour and a half drive.  It took us a bit longer, it turned out we weren't as good at following maps as we thought, but we got there in one piece, the 5 of us and our little car Ruby, with me driving and the other 4 making sure I stayed in the correct lane and that I wasn't going to get us killed.
The Blue Mountains are beautiful.  Katoomba is home to the Three Sisters and Echo Point as well as Scenic World, which despite its somewhat tacky name, is actually a really gorgeous, only semi-touristy part of the mountains.  So we hiked, we ate Thai food, we slept, we watched the sun rise over the fog filled valleys and mountains, we hiked some more until it was time to bid one of our party farewell and continue on to the next adventure.  With one body and two bags on their way to New Zealand, our little car had a bit more power behind her and we drove another hour and a half to the Jenolan Caves.

The Three Sisters

View From the Mountains



With another drive successfully under my belt, one including steep climbs, wicked turns, narrow mountain roads and heaps of potholes, we began exploring the Jenolan Caves.  We went on a tour which had us winding our way thorugh narrow passages and high vaulted chambers filled iwth stalagtites, stalagmites, columns and all sorts of other formations.  Afterwards we set out on a self-guided tour around the outskirts of the cave.  Between the two hikes we probably went up and down more stairs than we had ever seen in a single day in our lives.  Luckily we had bought some cupcakes before leaving Katoomba which we had waiting for us in the car at the end of our exhausting expedition. 

We piled back into the car and drove the traffic-clogged 3.5 hours back to Sydney.  After another incidentless drive, we dragged our somewhate cranky and short-tempered, and very hungry, selves to have dinner in Darling, wher we were treated to a fireworks display immediately upon our arrival.  After some much needed food, time out of the car and Starbucks, we took some time to enjoy the fresh air at the harbour before navigating our way back to our hostel.  In the morning our little group split up further, leaving 2 in Sydney while the other 2 of us headed to the Outback.  I drove us to the airport, dropped off Ruby, no worse for the wear and a 3 hour flight later we landed in Ayers Rock.

By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect for my first Easter outside the U.S.  But it turned out to be not so different.  Unlike most uni's in the States, we got Good Friday and Easter Monday off so two of us packed our bags and headed to the Whitsundays for an Easter by the sea. 

Airlie Beach

Whitsunday Islands

Long Beach

We stayed one night in Airlie Beach, which not much can be said for except it does have a pretty beach.  It has a very strong "American spring break" kind of vibe.  Luckily we didn't spend much time in Airlie, the next day we went out on a day-long sailing tour of the Whitsundays, stopping to snorkel off Whitsunday Island and swim and relax on Whitehaven Beach, which has the most stunningly blinding white sand I've ever seen.  We spent the next night and day on Long Beach which is home to a resort and backpackers hostel.  Gorgeous beaches and lush forests surrounded our accomodations and we spent Easter Sunday hiking, sunning and playing with the critters in the intertidal.  Easter Monday had us back at Airlie where we went for a pretty spectacular sea kayak tour.  We stopped for lunch at an "island" (technically a rock) made up of dead coral pieces before heading back to shore, packing up and heading back to uni. 

Whitehaven Beach

Sunset Over Daydream Island

Jawstralia

Blacktip Reef Sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus, are the most gorgeous of sharks in my opinion.  So it was a bit difficult for me to punch a hole in the crisp, sharp edged dorsal fin of a little female Blacktip so we could mark her with an ugly plastic tag.  But to put it in perspective, it probably felt like getting an ear pierced or less and it was for part of a pHD student's research, to examine the trophic level and interactions of sharks in Cleveland Bay off the coast of Townsville, QLD.  This research will, in the long run, hopefully be used in conservation efforts.

Being on a boat is the best cure for anything, not that I'm ailing from anything in Australia except maybe the heat, but there is nothing like the smell of the sea, the wind in your face and the mainland at your back.  The day was spent baiting, setting and hauling in long lines.  Anything that was caught, including eels, catfish, travoli and other fish, were accounted for and released.  But when we caught a shark we would pull it in, lasso it's tail and tie it off alongside our little research vessel.  We took measurements, tagged and released them.  In total we caught 6 Blacktips and 1 Hammerhead, Sphyrna mokarran.  Unfortunately the study is mostly focusing on Nervous Sharks, Carcharhinus cautus, and a few other species that we didn't catch that day, but if we had we would have taken blood samples in addition to the measurements in order to run stable isotope analysis.  Either way it was still an awesome experience and it is things like this that make me remember how fortunate I am to be in this awesome country and to be studying something so fascinating.

How Will We Feed the People?

Or, "Climate Change vs Overpopulation"

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is a government operated organization designed to carry out projects set forth every four years by the Minister of Science.  Their ever-expanding facilities are equipped and designed to carry out any number of marine research projects.  Currently, their aquaculture facilities are working on the crayfish industry.  AIMS, in addition to many other groups and organizations are trying to answer the question, "how will we feed the people?"  Because as overpopulation gets worse and worse, we must start turning to new methods of food production and cultivation.  We need protein and other nutrients.  The sea is becoming an increasinly attractive source of this as we devastate our agricultural resources.  But of course we are devastating even the seemingly unlimited resources of the sea, which is where aquaculture comes in.  What happens when the climate warms is no longer the main interest to all marine science industries, because instead of solving that problem, we've managed to create another, possibly more pressing issue.  So let's hope we solve this one before we create another one...at least there is some hope in aquaculture, but it may be years before it reaches the capacity we need, until then, well hopefully we can manage.



Bucket List

It's time to post my bucket list for Australia.  The list itself is actually pretty short, I'm not sure why, I guess because just getting here was a major check on my life bucket list.  Regardless each thing has special meaning to me and at this point I have done everything on the list...so maybe a new list is in order, but here is how it stands at present:
~Dive the Great Barrier Reef                            X
~See a shark                                                      X
~Hold a koala                                                   X
~Keep up to date on Aussie and U.S. news      X
~Keep in touch with family and friends           X
~Try Vegemite                                                  X
~Keep blog updated                                        X  -at least for the most part
~Fall in love with something                          X  -with this amazing country